Method of towel folding and wrapping



Jan. 8, 1935.

J P. REMINGTON METHOD OF TOWEL FOLDING AND WRAPPING 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 21. 1931 I 0 INVENTOR. BY Q5/- Q 53 ATTORNEY.

Jan. 8, 1935. J. P. REMINGTON METHOD OF TOWEL FOLDING AND WRAPPING Filed Jan. 21, 193; 5 Sheets$heet 2 v I INVENTOR. MG. LX 65%,;

= ATTORNEY.

Jan. 8, 1935- J. P. REMINGTON METHOD OF TOWEL FOLDING AND WRAPPING Filed Jan. 21. 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. MO

54 ATTORNEY.

Patented 8, 1935 UNITED STATES I 1,987,211 union or rower. rommo AND waarrmo v Joseph P. Deming 11, Philadelphia, Pa., assignor to Stokes and Smith Company, Pa, a corporation of Pennsylvanl Philadelphia, a

Application January 21, 1931, Serial No. 510,084

8 Claims.

My invention relates particularly to the folding and wrapping of sheet-like articles of fabric, as cloth; for example towels, napkins, or the like, for brevity herein generically termed "towels.

5 In accordance with my invention, the towels are folded individually in succession, and preferably each is individually covered or wrapped, as with, paper, or equivalent wrapping material, to form a sealed package; more particularly, the

10 folding and wrapping of each towel constitute a continuous process without substantial delay between successive steps; preferably, the wrapping and folding operations overlap, and more specifically, the last folding step and the first wrapping 15 step are concurrently performed.

Further in accordance with my invention, the towels are each so folded that though of irregular shape or size in the flat, the folded towel forms a substantially regular body or article suitable 20 for packaging, and more particularly, towels of substantially different dimensions are formed by the same number of folding operations into articles similar in width and length to permit use of a uniform container or wrapper.

My invention also resides in the methods hereinafter described and claimed.

For an understanding of my invention, reference is made to the accompanying drawings,-in which:

Fig. 1 in perspective shows a stack'of towels,

or analogous articles.

Fig. 2 illustrates the removal of a towel from the stack of Fig. 1.

Figure 3 illustrates folding of the removed towel. Fig. 3a on enlarged scale shows the appearance of the folded towel after the operation of Fig. 3.

Fig. 4 illustrates a further folding operation,

1 and the simultaneous removal of another towel from the stack of Fig. 1.1

Fig.4a on enlarged scale discloses the appear ance of the towel after the folding operation of Fig. 4.

Fig. 5 discloses feeding of the folded towel. Figs. 6 and 7 illustrate further folding operations and the association of the foldedtowel with strip wrapping material.

Fig. 7a is a plan view of a towel in the fiat, with allfolds indicated by dotted lines.

Fig. 7b shows a stencil roll. Figs. 8 to 12 illustrate the several steps of applying a wrapper to the folded towel to form a sealed package.

Figs. 13 to 15 illustrate wrapping steps resulting in the modified sealed package of Fig. 15.

Figs. 16 to 18 illustrate the wrapping steps for forming the further modified sealed package 0 Fig. 18.

Referring to Fig. 1, the towels T, napkins, or analogous sheet-like articles of fabric, are arranged in a stack S, as upon a suitable table or support 1. The top or end towel T of the stack is removed therefrom by supporting and lifting it along a line 1;, a suitable distance from the edge C of the towel. The towel T is engaged for example, by the parallel pinching plates 2 at'the end of a U yoke 3, mounted upon the oscillating shaft 4. When the yoke is moved to the position shown in Fig. 1, the pinching plates 2 grasp the top towel T, and upon counter-clockwise movement of the yoke'3, the towel supported along the line 12, between the plates 2, is lifted, the ends C and D of the towel falling towards each other by gravity, to fold the towel along the liner. The distance v-D is preferably not greater than the distance 'vC, and may be materially smaller than distance 0-0, for the number, sequence and direction of the folding steps hereinafter specifically described.

The yoke 3 carries the towel having .the single cross-wise fold to another folding station, specifically to the position shown in Fig. 3, over the rolls 5. The folding bar 6 mounted upon the ends of or integral with the arms '1 supported by shaft 8, and oscillating in timed relation to the yoke 3, presses the towel T between the rolls-5 which feed it between the upper guide plates 9, 9,- and lower guide plates 10, 10, separated therefrom to suitable extent, to the position or folding station shown in Fig. 4. The towel, twice folded crosswise, assumes the appearance shown in Fig; 3a with the end D inside ofthe outline of the end of the folded towel. The yoke 3 is so constructed and operated that in the particular example shown, the distance between the cross folds v and w is approximately one-half of the distance Cv. e

As shown in Fig. 4, the upper and lower guide plates 9, 10 are spaced, to permit further crosswise folding of the towel by the plate 11 at the ends of arms 12 supported by shaft 4. During counter-clockwise movement of plate 11, the folded towel is engaged substantially half-way between the folds v, and 10, along the line .r, forced between the guide plates -13 and into engagement .with the feed rolls 14 which deliver the towels to the spaced supporting members 15, Fig. 5.

Preferably while one towel is being folded, as by the plate 11, another towel T1 is being removedfro'm the top of the stack S for delivery over the rollers t, Fig. 3, so that it will be understood that as one towel is at one folding stage, one or more other towels are at different folding stages, so that although the time of completely folding one towel may be of appreciable duration, the rate of delivery of completely folded towels may be high. The time required to fold and wrap one towel is limited only by the time required for the slowest operation.

After the folding step of Fig. 4, the body or article formed by the folded towel T is, as shown in Fig. 4a, of substantial thickness with one side formed by the fold a: and the opposite side by the folds v and 10V substantially parallel, and straight throughout their length, and this is true even though the edges C, D of thetowel in the flat,

as in the stack S, may not have been parallel, and/or regular.

Referring to Fig. 6, in which the supporting members 15 are at right angles to the position of Fig. 5, the thrice cross-wise folded towel is engaged intermediate the edges A and B by the folding bar 16 to fold it along the line 11 lengthwise ,of the towel. The towel so folded is passed between another set of spaced guide plates 17 and 18 to the position shown in Fig. 'l. The towel is again folded lengthwise, as along line 2, which is approximately half the distance between the article is substantially equal to the length of one of the same rectangles. The length and width of the final article is substantially the same for a wide variation in the length or width, or both, of the towels or equivalent, and the sides of the body are substantially regular, with opposite sides parallel despite irregularities in the dimensions or shape of the towels. Increasing the length or width of the towels effects only change in the I average thickness of the final article with no appreciable change in the other dimensions. It is therefore possible to enclose the individual folded towels in containers of uniform'size to form individualpackages for dispensing or distributing the folded towels. For example, towels after being laundered, may be stacked upon a table 1, and the towels individually folded and packaged for delivery.

It will be understood that these folding p rations may all be manually performed, though preferably the folding steps are performed by mechanism, such as shown for example in my copending application, Serial No. 596,774, filed Mar. 4, 1932. (Attorneys docket No. .2237.)

The folding and wrapping of the individual towels, as folded, is preferably a continuous process, with no substantial interval between the folding and wrapping steps as applied to an individual towel. Preferably as shown in Figs. 6 and '1, sheetwrapping material, as paper, is removed from a roll 21, and the strip 22 thereof fed between the guide plates 17, 18, associated with the final folding, so that when the folded towel is fed between the guide plates, the paper is between the towel and the upper and lower guide plate nearest the rolls 23. The strip 22 is then severed, as by suitable knives 24 to form an individual wrapper W for the towel. The width of strip 22, and the length out by the knives is such that the wrapper projects to substantial or suitable extent beyond the edges of the towel, as shown in Fig. 7.

During the final folding operation of the towel along line z, as effected by movement of plate 19,

the wrapper W is also folded, Fig. 8, with portions of the' wrapper projecting beyond the towel. These projecting portions may be in any suitable manner rendered adhesive and folded over one another to form a. sealed package. For example, suitable adhesive, as glue, may be applied or if the paper is previously treated, the adhesive thereon may be moistened; if paraflin paper is utilized, heat may be'applied .to cause the projecting portions to adhere to one another, or other materials such as "Cellophane, may be utilized for wrapping and suitable adhesive or solvents applied to effect adhesion between the projecting wrapper portions.

Specifically, as illustrated in Fig. '7, during reciprocation of the plate 19, adhesive is transferred from the roll 24, coated with adhesive, transferred by roll 25 from the reservoir 26, to the under surface of the U-shaped plate 27 reciprocable with plate 19. During the final towel folding operation by plate 19, the U-shapedplate 2'7 rests upon portions of the wrapper W projecting from the sides and front of the folded towel body, to transfer adhesive thereto as indicated by the stippling in Fig. 8.

Instead of applying adhesive during folding of the wrapper adhesive may be applied to the wrapper strip 21 as it is fed toward the station at which it engages the towel; for example, a stencil roll 27a as shown in- Fig 7b, may apply glue to the wrapper strip. Preferably, the stencil, whether a roll or plate, is cut so that there is applied a strip of glue extending across the wrapper and strips of glue extending forwardly therefrom in the direction of feed, and along the edges of the wrapper. In this case, the glue is on the under side of the top projecting portions 17, b and e of the folded wrapper instead of the upper surface of the lower projecting wrapper portions 0, c and I.

Figs. 9 to 12 illustrate successive steps of forming one type of package. First, the vertical portions a of the wrapper adjacentthe fold z of the towel, are folded in against the sides of the towel and thereafter the upper or uncoated projecting portions b of the wrapper are folded downwardly against the sides of the towel body. The lower or coated side projecting portions care then folded upwardly over the folded portions 1 and b, the partially completed package then assuming the appearance of Fig. 10. The portions d of the wrapper projecting beyond the edge of the towel body formed by the folds o. w, and ends 0, D are then folded inwardly toward each other as indicated in Fig. 11 to bring the upper and lower projecting ends e and I of the wrapper flush with each other, and by a final wrapping operationwhich presses the ends of these projecting por-.

tions together, the completed sealed package P is formed. The projecting portion F formed by the attached ends and I of the wrapper forms a tearing flap. One wishing to open the package may readily do so by tearing oil. the flap! which permits ready removal of the towel.

The towel body after the several folding ope tions, Figs. 1 to 7, is substantial and constitutes a suitable form for shaping of the wrapper. Preferably, however, the plate 19 is retained in position within the folded'towel until at least the sides of the package have been formed, Fig. 10.

Another type of package may-be formed by the steps illustrated in Figs. 13 to 15 which is generally the same as that described except that the folding step of Fig. 11 is omitted with the result that the sealed end, or, tearing fiap F of the package is greater in width than the rest of the package. This difference in width may not be objectionably large for the larger sized towels.

Another and preferred type package is disclosed in Figs. 16 to 17. The edges 1), c are not folded against the side of the towel but into face to face engagement with one another, and similarly the end edges e, ,f of the wrapper are pressed into face to face engagement. Any of the flaps F, F may be torn off to open the package. This method in which there is no f olding or overlapping of flaps is particularly suited for wrapping-materials such as parafiined paper, Cellophane etc., in which rolls or other clamping surfaces may press the projecting wrapper portions together.

In all cases, it will be understood that the process is preferably continuous. That is, the towels are removed individuallyand in succession from the stack S, each in succession passes through the several folding steps, and is packaged, and further that several towels may simultaneously be at different stages of the folding and/or packaging operations.

What I claim is:

1. The method which comprises folding a towel at least thrice in one direction and at'least twice in another direction to form a substantial, regular body, simultaneously shaping a wrapper about said body to enclose the same, and sealing the wrapper to form a sealed package.

2. The method which comprises folding a towel at least thrice lengthwise and at least twice crosswise to form a substantial, regular body, and s1- multaneously shaping a wrapper about said body to form a wrapped package.

3. The method which comprises folding a towel thrice in succession in one direction, and twice in succession in another direction to form a substantial, regular body, simultaneously shaping a wrapper about said body. to enclose the same, and

, sealing the wrapper to form a sealed package.

4. The method which comprises folding a towel successively in one direction to form a body of one desired dimension, successively folding the,

towel in another direction to obtain another desired dimension and with all unfolded edges at one end of said body, and simultaneously shaping a wrapper about said body to form a wrapped package, the last shaping step closing the side of the package at said one end of the folded body.

5. The method which comprises folding towels individually and in succession, feeding a strip of sheet wrapping material, effecting engagement between folded towels in succession and the sheet material, severing the strip of sheet material to form wrappers, and folding into adhesive face-t0- face contact wrapper portions extending from three sides of the folded towel to form a sealed package.

6. The method which comprises lifting a towel intermediate its ends to define a transverse fold, subsequently folding the towel at least once substantially at right angles to said fold, effecting folding of a wrapper concurrently with the final folding ofthe towel, the wrapper extending beyond the sides and one end of the folded towel, and subsequently completing sealing of the package by effecting adhesive engagement between the extending wrapper portions.

'7. The method which comprises lifting a towel intermediate its ends to define a transverse fold, subsequently folding the towelat least once substantially at right angles to said fold, effecting folding of a wrapper concurrently with the final folding of the towel, applying adhesive to the extending wrapper portions during said last folding operation, and subsequently completing scaling of the package by effecting engagement of said extending wrapper portions.

8. The method of forming substantially uniform sealed packages from towels of diflerent shapes and sizes which comprises individually- -ing wrappers to the individualfbodies to form sealed packages ofuniform length and width. JOSEPH P. REMINGTON. 

